June 2012 - Page 2

Funny how news work around the globe. Daniil Zharkov’s post-draft press-conference didn’t have nearly as much of an impact in North America as it did in Russia. Major sports websites in the country mistranslated his words so that in the Russian media Zharkov appeared to be saying ‘Russian hockey is not for me. I feel…

Late in the third round the Oilers used their fourth pick to draft a Russian winger from Belleville Bulls – Daniil Zharkov. Given the fact he was ranked pretty high in pre-draft rankings, you may consider him a steal, especially if you get familiarized with the story of his life.

The Oilers will finally announce their next head coach and they will be promoting Ralph Krueger from associate coach to head coach at a press conference tomorrow morning. Who is Ralph Krueger? Ralph Krueger was born August 31st, 1959 in Winnipeg. He played minor hockey in Manitoba, all the way up to the MJHL with…

July 1st is right around the corner and that means the start of the NHL free agent frenzy is almost upon us. Players have met with their agents to lay out a game plan so they are prepared to make the big decision. Then they just have to sit back and wait for the phone…

At 1 p.m. today the NHL will announce the 2012 Hockey Hall of Fame inductees. There is a maximum of four male players, two female and two builders allowed each year. This year has an interesting crop of players who are eligible for the first time. Joe Sakic, Brendan Shanahan, Mats Sundin and Jeremy Roenick…

Over these last few weeks I’ve enjoyed passing along some of my "secrets of a draft geek" insider information. Hope it wasn’t too boring, and as a final stanza here are a few observations from the weekend.

It’s difficult to read any commentary about Nail Yakupov these days without seeing references to him being confident or cocky. It’s a fine line, and often in the eye of the beholder. Whatever you choose to call it, the Edmonton Oilers can use more of it, if you ask me. If there’s a bit of…

It’s been clear for a few weeks now that the Chicago Blackhawks were interested in moving some of their higher-salaried depth defenseman to other teams. On Sunday, a report out of Chicago suggested that the Edmonton Oilers were investigating the possibility of making a pitch for Niklas Hjalmarsson.

I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the Edmonton Oilers name Ralph Krueger as their new head coach in the next couple of days. I’ll resist a reference to “Oilersnation has learned . . .” I don’t know from first-hand information Krueger has the job because the Oilers have been predictably tight-lipped about the…

The 2012 Entry Draft was a wild one, with an unexpected run on defenders in the top-10, the Jordan Staal and Luke Schenn trades as well as Calgary making the biggest risk/reward pick in the first round. The Nation had no less than five people on the ground in Pittsburgh watching the action…

The Edmonton Oilers dipped into their own past for some draft philosophy yesterday and pulled out a high risk, low payoff page called ‘coke machines.’ How does it work? DOES it work? What can we expect from these young men?